Knotty, knotty, knotty…A person or persons has weeded out their riverbank knotweed and OMG thrown it in the river…not just any river, but our own Kedron Brook.
As fate would have it, this was a definite “poking of the moose” (stirring up trouble!) from upstream since these piles of knotweed have come downstream and ended up in the brook abutting Woodstock Knotweed Patrolman Bob Pear’s backyard.
We just had a knock on the door and faced a visibly shaken Pear with an industrial sized garbage bag.
We joked, “Let us guess: That’s for knotweed!” We thought it was a joke. Apparently it isn’t.
Pear responded, “I’ve called the police and told Joe Swanson I’m going in with my seal suit and snorkel to get it out.”
Alarmed, Woodstock Early Bird put on her black rubber boots and followed since she has never been on scene for a knotweed removal operation by a Knotweed Patrolman.
We arrived to find a pile of plant material on the Mechanic Street footbridge which had been plucked out by Mrs. Pear who stood with her husband, Mr. Pear, who was brandishing roots. When we asked Mr. Pear and then Mrs. Pear what their knotweed patrol credentials are — you know, are they trained botanists or horticulture experts — Mrs. Pear indignantly remarked, “I’m a NURSE!”
The point is this (We are not biologists but we get it): If you cut this stuff down BAG IT, REMOVE IT.
One leaf with stem and you have a gonzo invasive nightmare.
Throw knotweed in the stream and you have just helped its propagation. Which will cause a disturbance in Woodstock Early Bird land. Do KNOT cause a disturbance in Woodstock Early Bird land.
Weed, eradicate, what have you but our message of the evening is carry it out.
And now as we remove our rubber boots…A sprig of knotweed there to garnish your evening mojito?
Julia Carlisle
Woodstock Early Bird 